Committed to Raising up a New Generation of Christ-Centered Leaders

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1 YMI Reach Disciple Empower Youth Ministry Informer WINTER 2009 Vol. 14, NO. 1 Committed to Raising up a New Generation of Christ-Centered Leaders The 5 Principle Training System In this issue: The 5 Principle Training System One of the dreams of the Youth Ministry and Youth Network Teams is to be a catalyst to help train youth leaders around the world. The 5 Principle Training System is based on the SHAPE initiative of the Church of God and includes the principles of Spirituality, Vision, Leadership, Knowledge/Culture, and Relational/ Connectivity. This system was developed with the belief that these five principles apply across cultures. In January 2008, the principles were piloted with youth leaders in Africa. The dream is for this system to be a tool that local, state/provincial, regional, and national youth leaders everywhere can use to teach and train the leaders in their groups. The 5 Principle Training System materials can be downloaded free at This issue of YMI will provide an overview of the five principles; future issues will cover the principles in more depth. YMT Members Todd Lovelace Eric Reeder Andy Stephenson Current YNT members Chip Taylor 2009 Upcoming Dates and Events February 16 22, 2009 February 27 March 9, 2009 June 26 July 1, 2009 Summer 2009 FUEL Week National Youth Ministry Conference Columbus, Ohio conference.youthministry.com North American Convention Anderson, Indiana Leadership Summit For information, contact Sandina at Tami Byrd (IN) Kyle Cooper (VA) Shane Friesen (KS) Kristi Hayes (VA) Mike Hodges (AZ) Howard Megill (KY) Mark Shaner (IN) Chris Spitters (MI) Michael Thigpen (MD) Chris Ziegler (TN)

2 Spirituality I just spoke with a sixteen-year veteran youth pastor whom I recently started coaching. I asked him what his goals were for our nine months together, and the one thing he said he desperately needs help with is leadership development. As I probed further, I began to sense his desperation. His heart s cry is to grow as a spiritual leader. I think this is a common feeling among many youth leaders. I know that I myself have struggled with it from time to time. One of the most crucial areas in the 5 Principle Training System is spirituality. Youth pastors and teachers have a goal to help expand the kingdom of God, to be better leaders. Yet so often we get sidetracked into believing that the focus should be on developing skills becoming better teachers or better counselors. The truth is that when we learn to understand ourselves and who we are in Christ and continue to grow in our intimacy with our heavenly Father, we will benefit personally, but we will also become more effective spiritual leaders to those whom we serve. Look at the pairings below. For each, which term best describes where your attention and energy are most directed? Natural leadership/ Spiritual leadership Self-confident/ Confident in God Knows people/ Knows God Makes own decisions/ Seeks God s will Ambitious/ Humble Creates methods/ Follows God s example Enjoys command/ Delights in obedience to God Seeks personal reward/ Loves God and others Independent/ Depends on God Psalm 139:13 16 (niv) says, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother s womb My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. God knows us well! Being intimate with him is not an optional activity. We must prioritize this relationship so that we don t get carried away by all of the external voices that exist in the world, in our ministries, and in our churches. We should never become so busy doing the work of ministry that we lose our own spirituality. Todd Lovelace is a Youth Ministry Team member and is currently the suburban director of Youth for Christ in Oklahoma City. He can be reached at Download free materials at

3 Leadership I remember as a young youth pastor hearing a phrase from a John Maxwell cassette tape (yes, it was a long time ago): Leadership is influence. Everything rises and falls on leadership. What I didn t know at the time was how accurate that concept was or how important it would become for me. Leadership is essential, and it makes a difference. Great leadership pours into others, and it has lasting impact. It models, teaches, and guides. Moses poured his life into Joshua. Jesus poured his life into the disciples. Paul poured his life into Timothy. All leaders today made it to where they are by having at least one person, probably several people, who invested in them and helped them achieve. None of us got here on our own. Here are some important things to remember as you seek to improve your leadership: Every leader needs to be COACHED. A coach, or mentor, is someone you connect with at least monthly who asks you the hard questions and the right questions. This person should be older than you both physically and spiritually and should be someone you respect greatly. He or she not only encourages your leadership but also prays for you, challenges you, holds you accountable, and is committed to speaking truth into your life. Paul is a biblical example of such a coach. Every leader needs TEAMMATES. A teammate is someone you see as a peer. This is someone who understands you and cheers for you, someone you share life with and seek advice from. Look for at least two people who could be your teammates and whom you could connect with monthly for encouragement, support, and accountability. Barnabas is a biblical example of such a teammate. Every leader needs to COACH OTHERS. To be a great leader you need to be reproducing yourself. Find others with great potential and ask them if they would be interested in a mentoring relationship. If yes, then spend time with them regularly. If no, keep looking. Model for them your relationship with Christ and involve them in your leadership. Teach, train, and encourage them, and give them chances to lead. Your influence will grow and the kingdom impact will increase. Timothy is a biblical example of someone who was coached. Including these people in your life will increase your influence and undoubtedly make you a better leader! Chip Taylor is a Youth Ministry Team member and the youth pastor at Bayside Community Church in Safety Harbor, Florida. He can be reached at Knowledge/Culture All of us in youth ministry hope to be able to relate to our students; we want to understand them and their culture. The 5 Principle Training System is designed to help youth workers gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom for effectively relating to students and their culture. Gaining knowledge and wisdom is critical if we want to be effective in youth ministry. Simply stated, knowledge is knowing having practical understanding of something. In order to know something, you have to spend time with that situation. In order to know a person, you have to spend time with that person in relationship. Wisdom is the ability to take knowledge and apply it to life and ministry. Webster defines it as a wise attitude, belief, or course of action basically, doing what you know is right to do. In ministry, we want to take knowledge of the Scriptures and apply it to our lives while doing all we can to relate biblical truth effectively. It is important for us to know the culture we minister in and be able to relate the truth of the Word of God effectively to the people within that culture. In order to do that, we must have a growing understanding of that culture. We need to be students of it. The more we understand the culture in which we minister, the greater our effectiveness can be. One reason that youth ministry is so exciting is that student culture is constantly changing. It s tough work to keep up, (continued on next page...)

4 (...continued from previous page) but it s worth the effort. Romans 12:2 in The Message says, Don t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Isn t that what happens? Many of the students we minister to are living very well-adjusted to their culture. They are consumed by it, not even thinking about it. As youth workers, we need to be intentional in helping students think about how they are living and the choices they are making. Surviving cultural influences is possible. If we can mentor students to be in but not of the world, we should celebrate that victory! I always try to encourage my students to think. I want them to discover the truth of the Scriptures. We must encourage students to grow in their own faith and knowledge of God, to grow in their own understanding of what the Bible teaches in order to be able to survive in their culture. Youth workers love to pour into the lives of students. We love to mentor, to do all we can to raise up a generation of Christ-centered leaders. We can do this better when we take the knowledge of the Scriptures and the wisdom we have gained, combine them with an understanding of student culture we have developed by spending time with students, and invest ourselves in helping them to move deeper in their own understanding of God, the Bible, and faith. Eric Reeder is the newest member of the Youth Ministry Team. He is the youth pastor at Liberty Street Church of God in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and serves as the West Virginia state youth advisor. He can be reached at Young adults are seeking spiritual direction on the journey of life and faith. But times have changed. Today s technology means that we can access an infinite amount of resources for the journey anywhere, anytime. We still need direction, but we need discipleship tools that are flexible, tools that work. We need a new way to find spiritual direction. The Journey is where the journey of life and faith and the technology of today intersect. It s a Web-based postmodern resource featuring direct links to Scripture, commentaries, music, artwork, history, and much more. Each edition of the Journey explores issues that are timely and relevant to the journey of life and faith. It s formatted to provide you with the discipleship tools you need, when you need them, for as long as you need them. It s designed to help young adults discover authentic relationships, develop a mutually supportive community, and be deployed for practical outreach and service. Come join the Journey. Log on to Kevin Stiffler, Editor To try the Journey online, go to and click on Sample the Journey for free.

5 Relational/Connectivity Each of us has particular needs in life. The physical needs of food, water, and sleep are basic for all of us. Each of us also has spiritual needs the need for redemption, the forgiveness of sin, and the unconditional love of God. And we really do need each other in life and particularly in our walk with Christ. We were created to serve God and minister to him, but we are also here to serve our families and others. There are some key relational needs that each of us has to some extent or another: Acceptance Affection Appreciation Approval Attention Comfort Encouragement Respect Security Support When we understand which of these relational needs are important to us personally and which are important to the others in our lives, our relationships grow deeper and we become more effective at serving one another. Author Gary Chapman believes there are five primary ways that we meet the relational needs of others and have our own relational needs met: Words of affirmation Spending quality time together Gifts Acts of service Physical touch Psalm 141:5 (nlt) says, Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they correct me, it is soothing medicine. Don t let me refuse it. Having a godly truth teller in your life is one of the most important things you can do for your ministry. We all know of prominent leaders who have fallen because of the lack of godly direction and input from others. The 5 Principle Training System provides some great tools for understanding and meeting relational needs, including building relationships where the truth is spoken in love. Kevin Stiffler is the youth curriculum editor for Church of God Ministries in Anderson, Indiana. He also edits YMI and the youth ministries Web site (www.chogy.org). He can be reached at Vision I am one of the mechanically challenged citizens of this world. To put it in politically incorrect terms, I am mechanically stupid. I have a hard time working on anything that has to be put together (just ask my mechanically gifted wife). Usually, without step-by-step directions that include pictures, I am toast. Thank goodness for pictures. Many of us do ministry without a clear picture of where we are headed. Those of us who do have distinct plans often can t describe what the end result is to look like. What do we want our students to know once they are out of our youth ministries? How do we hope they will live? A clear vision is essential to healthy student ministries. The vision section of the 5 Principle Training System includes biblically based concepts to help you develop a vision for your ministry. It will help you and your team work together to identify what you really value, think through where you want to go, and chart a course for how you are going to get there. Our prayer is that the 5 Principles will help all of us as together we raise up a new generation of Christ-centered leaders. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:22 niv). As the as the leader of Youth and Family Ministries at Church of God Ministries in Anderson, Indiana, Andy Stephenson heads up the Youth Ministry Team. He can be reached at chog.org.

6 We have spent a lot of time updating and expanding This youth ministry Web site now has even more tools to support you in your work, including: Current and future events calendar Ever-growing lists of teen services Free curriculum, including 360 Revolution opportunities, fundraising ideas, and and Spread the Word message outlines Contact information for individuals across Links to Church of God colleges across North North America who can provide training and America coaching for you and your volunteers Current and archived issues of the Youth A compilation of recommended books, Ministry Informer (YMI), a free regular curriculum, conferences, Web sites, and other newsletter containing youth ministry tips and useful resources news. YMI Reach Disciple Empower Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No Anderson, IN 1201 E. Fifth St. PO Box 2420 Anderson, IN Committed to Raising up a New Generation of Christ-Centered Leaders

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